For years and years, Google Maps has been the go-to choice for anyone needing to navigate. This is true regardless of whether you use Android or iOS and it’s for good reason.
Previously, we have shared how to take advantage of Offline Maps & Routes, along with Maps’ Parked Car features. However, there’s another way that you can keep your friends and family apprised of where you are.
Instead of getting pestered with questions like “where are you?”, or “when are you going to be here?” you can use Google Maps to stop them. Late last year, Google finally brought this functionality to the iPhone, after it was already made available for Android devices.
There are a few different ways that you can share your real-time location with users.
The first of which requires the receiving party to have a Google account, and here are the steps:
Open the Google Maps application on your iPhone
Tap the three bar menu button in the top left-hand corner
Select Location Sharing
Choose the duration of how long you want your location to be shared
Tap Select People at the bottom
Give Google Maps access to your contact list
Choose the people that you want it to be shared with
Tap Share in the top right-hand corner
From there, the location will be shared with your contact for however long you chose. This is perfect if you are heading to your parents home, or if you need to know where your children are during a trip.
If you want to stop sharing at any point in time, just go back to the Location Sharing section and tap the “X” next to the contact. This will stop sharing your location immediately.
Share your ETA
Sharing your ETA is something that is a little bit more practical, and useful, compared to sharing your location. It’s also much easier to do so than sharing your location.
Here is how you can share your ETA from the Maps application:
Open the Google Maps app on your iPhone
Set a driving destination
After the destination has been set, swipe up from the bottom of the screen
Select Share trip progress
Scroll through and select the contacts you wish to share your ETA with
After you have reached the destination, your location will automatically stop being shared. This is also true in the event that you decide to stop navigating while on your trip.
Conclusion
Sharing your ETA and location is an extremely useful set of tools from one of the best apps on the App Store. Obviously, this is one of the more popular cross-platform apps and for good reason, as these features work regardless of whether you are using iOS or Android.
If you run into any issues trying to share your location or ETA from the Google Maps app, sound off in the comments. In the meantime, let us know some of your favorite tricks while using the Maps app, or why you use something different like Apple Maps or Waze.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
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